Category Archives: pots and containers
Succulent Experiments
Crassula expansa subsp. fragilis was planted this past May in these car jack stands, using window screening to hold the soil in, first pictured here near the bottom of the post. Unlike my mossy experiments, this crassula is growing much … Continue reading
Occasional Daily Photo 7/11/11
Brugmansia hybrid ‘Charles Grimaldi.’ Incredibly voluptuous, scented trumpets…on a plant that rivals the hybrid tea rose for awkward growth and ugly legs. Just haven’t found the right approach yet to placing these subtropical shrubs in a zone 10 landscape, where … Continue reading
Occasional Daily Photo 7/7/11
Echeveria runyonii ‘Topsy Turvy’ in an urn at Big Daddy’s. (At the end of the month, Big Daddy’s will be moving from its Gardena location to Culver City and may possibly be more inclined to discount inventory rather than pack … Continue reading
Plant Societies
Why has it taken me so long to check out local plant societies? I’ve been a member of the various conservancies, The Mediterranean Garden Society, but membership was mostly in a passive sense, as a means to attend tours and … Continue reading
Garden Tasks, Dogs & Productivity
I work at home most days of the week and keep this guy fairly close all day. Working alone all day with a dog instead of people has some interesting ramifications. I’m not sure if it makes me any more … Continue reading
Hortus Chaotica
So many contradictions, so little time. A love of spare, austere, sculptural plantings. Yet every summer I still invite the circus to camp in my garden.
Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana “Pink Butterflies”
The entire name wouldn’t even fit in the post title: Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana ‘Pink Butterflies.’ How fitting that a hybrid with a parent commonly known as ‘Mother of Thousands’ would have a name involving syllables of thousands. I’ve had … Continue reading
June Leans In
Look away briefly, and June overwhelms winter’s carefully laid plans. Since spring in Southern California really gets going in March, by June plant growth is at full throttle. The agaves, succulents, and Mediterranean evergreen shrubs have presented a sedate, enchanting … Continue reading
The Kitchen Garden Contained
Is it possible for a vegetable to reach celebrity status? Tuscan kale has seemingly reached a kind of stardom with both ornamental and vegetable gardeners. Brassica oleracea var. acephala, aka Italian lacinato, Nero Toscano, black kale, dinosaur kale. I grow … Continue reading
Manly Plants
I’m a lumberjack, and I’m okay. I sleep all night and I work all day. (Manly chorus: He’s a lumberjack and he’s okay He sleeps all night and he works all day) I cut down trees. I eat my lunch. … Continue reading